Why read this: This B1 version takes a real news story and turns it into a clear example of how the job market works today. Students meet two real jobseekers, Ventola and Duncan, and one expert, D'Onofrio. They learn why so many people are now paying for tools and services to find work, and they hear a different view from an expert who says spending money may not be needed. The topic is close to students' lives: their older siblings, parents and friends may be looking for jobs right now.
What to notice: Notice how the article uses numbers from three countries (the US, the UK and Canada) to show that the job market is slow. Notice the new business and HR words, such as candidate market, employer-driven market, premium subscribers and hiring managers. These words have short glosses next to them. Also notice the ending: Ventola admits her spending did not get her a job, but she says it opened her eyes to new options. The writer does not tell us what to think; we have to decide.
Skills practised: Reading for main idea and supporting details across short paragraphs. Tracking three named people (Ventola, Duncan, D'Onofrio) and what each one says. Reading numbers and percentages in context. Learning useful business and job-market vocabulary through margin glosses. Comparing two views (paying for tools vs. using free options) and giving reasons. The open questions practise explaining causes and comparing different opinions in writing.
Why Looking for a Job Is Costing People More Money
With jobs hard to find in the US, the UK and Canada, more people are paying for premium tools and career coaches to help them find work.
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
Giovanna Ventola is 35 and lives in North Carolina. She thinks she has spent about $6,000 looking for a new job. “I was doing more than just sending in applicationsapplication: A formal request for something, such as a job or a place at university — 申请；申请表；应用程序,” she says. “There were lots of services that I paid for.”
Ventola is one of many jobseekersjobseeker: a person who is looking for a job — 求职者 who are paying for tools to help them find work. Jobs are hard to come by: difficult to find or obtain — 难以找到；不易得到 in the US, the UK, and Canada. To stand out from the crowd: be noticeably better or different from the many other people doing the same thing — 脱颖而出, applicantsapplicant: A person who applies for something, especially a job or place at a university. — 申请人；求职者 are buying recruitment site subscriptions: a paid plan that gives full access to a job-search website — 招聘网站会员订阅, paying for career coaches: a trained professional who advises someone on their career and job search — 职业教练；职业顾问, and using resume-writing softwaresoftware: programs and instructions used to operate a computer — 软件.
The job market really is slow. In the US, an unemployedunemployed: not having a paid job — 失业的；没有工作的 person now needs about six months to find work, up from five months lastlast: Most recent — 最近的 year. Canada lost 66,000 jobs in August. In the UK, job openingsopening: A gap or space; the beginning of something; a job vacancy. — 开口；开幕；空缺 have fallen for 39 quarters in a row.
This has had a knock-on effect: an indirect result that follows from one event causing another — 连锁反应；间接影响 on job-search websites like LinkedIn. The number of premium subscribers: a person paying for the higher-tier paid plan of a service — 付费会员 has grown by nearly 50% in two years. Almost 40% of those subscribers now use AI features: tools inside a product that use artificial intelligence — AI（人工智能）功能 to make their profiles look better.
Kaycia Duncan, 30, lives in the UK. She has been looking for work in marketingmarketing: the activity of promoting and selling products or services — 市场营销；推销 for over a year, and she finds it dishearteningdisheartening: making someone lose hope or confidence — 令人沮丧的；让人灰心的. Like Ventola, she is spending money on tools she hopes will improve her job prospects: the chances of getting a good job in the future — 就业前景: about £30 a month. She paid to talk directlydirectly: In a straight line or without stopping, or honestly and openly. — 直接地；径直地 to HR managers: people in charge of hiring at a company; HR stands for Human Resources — 人力资源经理（HR） through a premium: a paid level of service that gives more features than the free level — 高级会员权限；付费访问 service. While she waits, she has taken on temp work: short-term jobs that fill a gap until a permanent job is found — 临时工作；零工 and submittedsubmit: To present something for consideration or judgement; to yield to authority. — 提交；呈递；屈服 more than 200 applications.
Ventola also started sharing her own story on TikTok. Her videos got hundreds of comments from other people in the same situation. That gave her the idea to start a free not-for-profit: (of an organization) run for a purpose other than making money — 非营利的 community called Rhize. Over 4,000 jobseekers around the world now use it to share tips on what works.
Why is it so hard to secure work: successfully obtain a job — 获得工作 right now? Nancy D’Onofrio, a director at the recruitment company Randstad, says employers now hold the power. “We have moved from a candidate market: a job market in which workers have the upper hand because employers compete for them — 求职者市场（求职者占主导） in the past three years to more of an employer-driven market: a job market in which employers have the upper hand because there are more workers than open jobs — 雇主主导的市场,” she explains. There are fewer open jobs and more people looking, so the search is much harder. She also notes that fast changes in technology and AI are causing layoffslayoffs: the act of dismissing workers because the company has less work or money — 裁员 in some fields. At the same time, more people are trying to retrainretrain: learn new skills so as to do a different job — 重新培训；转岗培训 for jobs that will be in demand: wanted by many employers; needed in the market — 受市场欢迎的；有需求的 in the future.
So what works? D’Onofrio thinks candidatescandidate: A person who applies for a job or is put forward for an election. — 候选人；申请者 do not need to spend money. Her advice is simple: contact hiring managers: people inside a company who decide who to interview and hire — 招聘经理（决定面试和录用的人） directly, attend networking events: events where people meet to make professional contacts — 职业社交活动, and use free online tools. As Ventola admitsadmit: To agree that something is true, especially something that you are not happy about. — 承认；准许进入, all the money she spent did not get her a job. But, she says, it did open her eyes to new options she had not thought of before.
Giovanna Ventola is 35 and lives in North Carolina. She thinks she has spent about $6,000 looking for a new job. “I was doing more than just sending in applicationsapplication: A formal request for something, such as a job or a place at university — 申请；申请表；应用程序,” she says. “There were lots of services that I paid for.”
Ventola is one of many jobseekersjobseeker: a person who is looking for a job — 求职者 who are paying for tools to help them find work. Jobs are hard to come by: difficult to find or obtain — 难以找到；不易得到 in the US, the UK, and Canada. To stand out from the crowd: be noticeably better or different from the many other people doing the same thing — 脱颖而出, applicantsapplicant: A person who applies for something, especially a job or place at a university. — 申请人；求职者 are buying recruitment site subscriptions: a paid plan that gives full access to a job-search website — 招聘网站会员订阅, paying for career coaches: a trained professional who advises someone on their career and job search — 职业教练；职业顾问, and using resume-writing softwaresoftware: programs and instructions used to operate a computer — 软件.
The job market really is slow. In the US, an unemployedunemployed: not having a paid job — 失业的；没有工作的 person now needs about six months to find work, up from five months lastlast: Most recent — 最近的 year. Canada lost 66,000 jobs in August. In the UK, job openingsopening: A gap or space; the beginning of something; a job vacancy. — 开口；开幕；空缺 have fallen for 39 quarters in a row.
This has had a knock-on effect: an indirect result that follows from one event causing another — 连锁反应；间接影响 on job-search websites like LinkedIn. The number of premium subscribers: a person paying for the higher-tier paid plan of a service — 付费会员 has grown by nearly 50% in two years. Almost 40% of those subscribers now use AI features: tools inside a product that use artificial intelligence — AI（人工智能）功能 to make their profiles look better.
Kaycia Duncan, 30, lives in the UK. She has been looking for work in marketingmarketing: the activity of promoting and selling products or services — 市场营销；推销 for over a year, and she finds it dishearteningdisheartening: making someone lose hope or confidence — 令人沮丧的；让人灰心的. Like Ventola, she is spending money on tools she hopes will improve her job prospects: the chances of getting a good job in the future — 就业前景: about £30 a month. She paid to talk directlydirectly: In a straight line or without stopping, or honestly and openly. — 直接地；径直地 to HR managers: people in charge of hiring at a company; HR stands for Human Resources — 人力资源经理（HR） through a premium: a paid level of service that gives more features than the free level — 高级会员权限；付费访问 service. While she waits, she has taken on temp work: short-term jobs that fill a gap until a permanent job is found — 临时工作；零工 and submittedsubmit: To present something for consideration or judgement; to yield to authority. — 提交；呈递；屈服 more than 200 applications.
Ventola also started sharing her own story on TikTok. Her videos got hundreds of comments from other people in the same situation. That gave her the idea to start a free not-for-profit: (of an organization) run for a purpose other than making money — 非营利的 community called Rhize. Over 4,000 jobseekers around the world now use it to share tips on what works.
Why is it so hard to secure work: successfully obtain a job — 获得工作 right now? Nancy D’Onofrio, a director at the recruitment company Randstad, says employers now hold the power. “We have moved from a candidate market: a job market in which workers have the upper hand because employers compete for them — 求职者市场（求职者占主导） in the past three years to more of an employer-driven market: a job market in which employers have the upper hand because there are more workers than open jobs — 雇主主导的市场,” she explains. There are fewer open jobs and more people looking, so the search is much harder. She also notes that fast changes in technology and AI are causing layoffslayoffs: the act of dismissing workers because the company has less work or money — 裁员 in some fields. At the same time, more people are trying to retrainretrain: learn new skills so as to do a different job — 重新培训；转岗培训 for jobs that will be in demand: wanted by many employers; needed in the market — 受市场欢迎的；有需求的 in the future.
So what works? D’Onofrio thinks candidatescandidate: A person who applies for a job or is put forward for an election. — 候选人；申请者 do not need to spend money. Her advice is simple: contact hiring managers: people inside a company who decide who to interview and hire — 招聘经理（决定面试和录用的人） directly, attend networking events: events where people meet to make professional contacts — 职业社交活动, and use free online tools. As Ventola admitsadmit: To agree that something is true, especially something that you are not happy about. — 承认；准许进入, all the money she spent did not get her a job. But, she says, it did open her eyes to new options she had not thought of before.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
About how much money does Giovanna Ventola think she has spent on her job search?
- 02
What does the article say about the job market in the US, the UK, and Canada?
- 03
Why does the article mention D'Onofrio's advice that candidates do not need to spend money?
- 04
Explain why so many jobseekers in the US, the UK and Canada are now paying for premium tools and services. Use at least two examples from the article.
Suggested length: ~70 words
- 05
Compare what Ventola and D'Onofrio believe about spending money on a job search. What does each one say, and what does the article seem to suggest at the end?
Suggested length: ~70 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
About how much money does Giovanna Ventola think she has spent on her job search?
- 02
What does the article say about the job market in the US, the UK, and Canada?
- 03
Why does the article mention D'Onofrio's advice that candidates do not need to spend money?
- 04
Explain why so many jobseekers in the US, the UK and Canada are now paying for premium tools and services. Use at least two examples from the article.
Suggested length: ~70 words
- 05
Compare what Ventola and D'Onofrio believe about spending money on a job search. What does each one say, and what does the article seem to suggest at the end?
Suggested length: ~70 words